in the matrix

Sometimes, when I'm in Costa Rica and I need to get away, I'll drive to San Jose and check myself into the best western irazu for a week or so. I'll get a ton of projects accomplished, mainly because I'm away from the rest of the world. The only downside is that I miss my family, but the upside means that I'm usually burnt and ready to take some time off and travel/surf/hang with my family. Thats about where I am right now. Holly and Otis went to Tamarindo ten days ago, I stayed in San Diego so I could work on things. I should probably go look for a ticket and get down there, I miss the surf camp (finally). You know, after seven years, looking back on things, I'm always glad I've done what I've done. This time I felt like I needed to take some time away from the inefficiencies of CR. Now I miss them. I also wanted to be as prepared as I could for the next kid. Holy crap, in three months I'm having another little boy. CRAZY. Hellooooooo? Helloooooooooo? Who would have thought? Getting back to this change of environment, this time away from Costa Rica, its a love-hate relationship, really much like the surf camp. No, its more like a relationship with a woman. 60 employees, a never-ending list of things to do, to make better, to build, to fix, to buy, to sell, blah blah blah. It gets tiring, even when you pretend not to notice. One thing I've learned, that I had heard but that didn't make sense until applied in my own life, you can't get shit done without a solid team, and for that I thank my staff. I'm not going to name any names here, uh, but Matt, you rock man. and you Shawna, and my good friend Ricardo, and everyone upstairs, and everyone downstairs, really all of you. Yo Freedom and Gregory, get ready to make me some Barrel Rolls at the sushi bar, and Vicente, I'll want that Sin Panza in about, uh 36 hours. I miss chilling with James, surfing with Colin, getting hugs from Catalina, and seeing Marcela's great smile. Surf is definitely up in Tamarindo this weekend. Plus, my parents are coming down, and so is my cousin Tommy from Salt Lake City and my cousin Frankie from Butte Montana, and a couple of their friends, and so on. Its going to be nice. Talking to Otis on the phone is great, but chilling out on the beach with him is going to be even better. aloha joe